President Bola Tinubu has expressed concern over the escalating prices of food in Nigeria and has instructed the Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention to devise immediate solutions to address the situation.
Gatekeepers News reports that Mallam Mohammed Idris, Minister of Information and National Orientation, made this announcement following a committee meeting on Tuesday in Abuja.
The meeting was held in response to recent protests in Niger and Kano States over soaring food prices.
Protesters in Niger State blocked a major road on Monday to decry the continuous increase in food prices, while women in Kano protested last week against rising flour prices.
Nigeria’s inflation rate, currently at about 30 percent according to the National Bureau of Statistics, is predominantly driven by the escalating costs of food items across the country.
After meeting with the business community in Kano on Monday, Governor Kabir Yusuf promised to inform the President that Nigerians are suffering.
Minister Idris emphasised President Tinubu’s concern regarding the accessibility and affordability of food items nationwide.
“The government is very concerned about what Nigerians are going through, especially what happened in Minna yesterday.
“Therefore government is taking some actions to ensure that Nigerians have some relief in terms of the availability of food on the table.”
The committee meeting, ongoing until Thursday, is exploring significant measures to alleviate the distressing situation.
“Now, some of these will involve unlocking the foods that are available in most of the storage facilities (National Food Reserves) around the country.
“The government is also talking to major millers and major commodity traders to also see what is available in their stores.
“To open it up, so that government will provide some intervention, discuss with them to provide some intervention to make this food available to Nigerians.” Idris said.
He said that the government was aware that some persons were creating food shortages because of its high cost and the depreciation of the currency.
“What I will tell Nigerians is that the President has directed that government needs to step in to stem this tide.
“The government will not fold its arms and see the way Nigerians are suffering in terms of the availability of these food items, so I want to plead with you to understand with the government.
“By the time these meetings are concluded, we’ll be able to issue a definite statement on what the position of government is in this regard.”
The meeting was attended by key officials, including the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, Central Bank Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu.
Others are Minister of Agriculture, Sen. Abubakar Kyari and that of Budget and Economic Planning, Bagudu Atiku as well as Ministers of State for Agriculture, Sabi Abdullahi and FCT, Mariya Mahmoud.
